Bletchingley (UK Parliament constituency)

Bletchingley was a parliamentary borough in Surrey. It returned two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons of England from 1295 to 1707, to the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom until 1832, when the constituency was abolished by the Great Reform Act.

Bletchingley
Former Borough constituency for the House of Commons
County	Surrey
Major settlements	Bletchingley
1295–1832
Number of members	Two
Replaced by	East Surrey

Elections were held using the bloc vote system.

History

Bletchingley was one of the original boroughs enfranchised in the Model Parliament, and kept its status until the Reform Act. The borough consisted of the former market town of Bletchingley in Surrey, which by the 19th century had shrunk to a village. In 1831, the population of the borough was 513, and contained only 85 houses. It was a burgage borough, the right to vote being exercised by the owners or resident tenants of the 130 "burgage tenements" - no doubt at some point in history these were simply the inhabited houses of the town, but it was already an artificial franchise by the time it was disputed before the House of Commons in 1624, when it was settled that Bletchingley's burgage holders should keep the vote as they had "time out of mind"; by the 19th century of course, with more burgages in the borough than houses, the notion of its being a residential franchise was no more than a legal fiction.

Like other burgage boroughs, Bletchingley quickly fell into the hands of a single landowner who thereby had the safest of pocket boroughs. It was once the property of Henry VIII's rejected Queen, Anne of Cleves. From her it passed to Sir Thomas Cawarden, the Master of the Revels and from his heir to Lord Howard of Effingham, father of the future conqueror of the Spanish Armada, in about 1560. It then remained in Howard hands for more than half a century, one of several boroughs controlled by that powerful family.

However, the 1624 dispute occurred when the voters daringly defied Lady Howard, and it may not have been entirely secure for any single "patron" for the rest of the century. By 1700, there were two rival influences, the Evelyns of Godstone, who had succeeded in holding one of the seats for much of the preceding sixty years, and Sir Robert Clayton, a London banker who was said to be the wealthiest commoner in England, and who was now Lord of the Manor. Neither held a majority of the burgages, and there were still a fair number of independent voters. For some years, Evelyn and Clayton had to be content with choosing one MP each, and even then had to face some tightly contested votes, but after the accession of George I, Clayton's nephew and heir, William Clayton, managed to accumulate enough of the burgages in his own hands to squeeze out the Evelyn influence and eventually make his hold absolutely watertight. Since the importance of a man with the absolute power to nominate two Members of Parliament was not underestimated by 18th century governments, he quickly found himself dignified with a baronetcy.

The Claytons retained Bletchingley until 1779. In that year, short of money and with talk of parliamentary reform in the air, Sir Robert Clayton decided to realise the asset while it still had a value, and sold the reversion of his property at Bletchingley (which by now included all the burgages) to his cousin, John Kenrick, for £10,000. Once the prospect of parliamentary reform had receded, Clayton repented of his bargain and filed an action in Chancery against Kenrick, claiming that he had been "imposed upon" and had been paid quite an inadequate amount; but the court sympathised with Kenrick, and dismissed the action with costs.

Kenrick's son later sold the rights to Matthew Russell for £60,000 (proving fairly convincingly that Kenrick had, indeed, received it from Clayton for below its true market price!) and he, by making seats available to some of the rising stars of the Whig party, ensured that after centuries of mediocrity Bletchingley was represented in its final years by some distinguished members, including two future Prime Ministers - Hon. William Lamb (Prime Minister as Lord Melbourne) and Lord Palmerston.

Bletchingley was abolished as a separate constituency by the Reform Act, the town being included in the Eastern division of Surrey thereafter.

Members of Parliament

1295-1640

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Parliament	First member	Second member
1386	William Bart	John atte Wyke [1]
1388 (Feb)	Robert Nafferton	William Nightingale [1]
1388 (Sep)	William Hart	Henry atte Stone I [1]
1390 (Jan)	John Deubeneye	William Nightingale [1]
1390 (Nov)
1391
1393	William Hart	Richard Turner [1]
1394
1395	William Hart	William Tanner [1]
1397 (Jan)	William Hart	Richard Turner [1]
1397 (Sep)	John Deubeneye	Thomas atte Helde [1]
1399	John Deubeneye	Thomas atte Helde [1]
1401
1402	William Hart	John Modys [1]
1404 (Jan)
1404 (Oct)
1407
1410
1411
1413 (Feb)
1413 (May)
1414 (Apr)
1414 (Nov)	William Hart	Roger Eylove [1]
1415	William Hart	John Modys [1]
1416 (Mar)	Roger Eylove	John Modys [1]
1416 (Oct)
1417	William Hart	Robert Axi [1]
1419	Roger -?	John -?
1420
1421 (May)	Walter atte Berne	John Knoller [1]
1421 (Dec)	Henry Brampton	Henry atte Stone II [1]
1422	Thomas Eylove[2]	1472	Henry Winter	[1]
1491	William Fisher	Thomas Garth [3]
1510-1523	No names known[4]
1529	Nicholas Leigh	John St John [4]
1536	?
1539	?
1542	Thomas Cawarden	William Sackville [4]
1545	?
1547	Sir Thomas Cawarden, sat for Surrey replaced by Jan 1552 by Henry Polsted	John Cheke [4]
1553 (Mar)	Sir John Cheke	Sir Maurice Berkeley [4]
1553 (Oct)	Henry Polsted	Matthew Colthurst [4]
1554 (Apr)	John Harman	Nicholas Saunders [4]
1554 (Nov)	Humphrey Cholmley	Robert Freeman [4]
1555	John Vaughan	William Smethwick [4]
1558	Bertram Calthorpe	Roger Alford [4]
1558/9	John Brace	William Porter [5]
1562/3	John Coker	John Elsedon [5]
1571	Roeland Maynard	Richard Bostock [5]
1572	Thomas Browne	Henry Kenrick, died and replaced Nov 1579 by Richard Bostock [5]
1584	Richard Bostock	John Cox [5]
1586	Sir Thomas Browne	John Cox [5]
1588	Richard Bostock	John Cox [5]
1593	Julius Caesar	Stephen Riddlesden [5]
1597	Lord Howard of Effingham, sat for Surrey replaced by Sir Richard Trevor	John Trevor [5]
1601	John Turner	Bostock Fuller [5]
1604	Sir John Trevor	Richard Bellingham died and replaced by Sir Charles Howard
1614	Sir John Trevor	Sir Charles Howard
1621-1622	John Hayward	Henry Lovell
1624	Sir Miles Fleetwood sat for Launceston, replaced by Edward Bysshe the elder	John Hayward
1625	Edward Bysshe the elder	Thomas Gresham
1626	Edward Bysshe the elder	Henry Lovell
1628	Sir Edward Bishopp, 2nd Baronet	John Evelyn, senior
1629–1640	No Parliaments summoned

1640-1832

Year		First member	First party		Second member	Second party
April 1640		Edmiund Hoskins			Edward Bysshe the elder
November 1640		John Evelyn, senior	Parliamentarian		Edward Bysshe the younger	Parliamentarian
December 1648	Evelyn and Bysshe excluded in Pride's Purge - both seats vacant
1653	Bletchingley was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate
January 1659		John Goodwin			Edmund Hoskins
May 1659	Not represented in the restored Rump
April 1660		John Evelyn, senior			John Goodwin
1661		Sir William Hawarde			Edward Bysshe
February 1679		George Evelyn			Edward Harvey
October 1679					John Morris
1681					Sir William Goulston
1685		Ambrose Browne			Sir Marmaduke Gresham
January 1689		Thomas Howard			John Glyd
December 1689					Jeffrey Amherst
1690					Sir Robert Clayton	Whig
1695					Maurice Thompson
1698		Hugh Hare			Sir Robert Clayton	Whig
1701		Sir Edward Gresham			John Ward
July 1702		John Evelyn
December 1702		Sir Robert Clayton	Whig
1705		George Evelyn
1708					Thomas Onslow
1715					(Sir) William Clayton [6]
1724		Henry Herbert
1727		Sir Orlando Bridgeman
1734		(Sir) Kenrick Clayton [7]
1745					William Clayton
1761					(Sir) Charles Whitworth [8]
1768					(Sir) Robert Clayton
1769		Frederick Standert
1780		John Kenrick
1783					John Nicholls
1787					(Sir) Robert Clayton
1790		Philip Francis
1796		Sir Lionel Copley [9]			John Stein
1797		Benjamin Hobhouse
1802		James Milnes			John Benn Walsh
1805		Nicholas Ridley-Colborne
1806		Josias du Pre Porcher			William Kenrick
January 1807		John Alexander Bannerman
May 1807		Thomas Freeman-Heathcote
1809		Charles Cockerell
October 1812		Sir Charles Talbot
December 1812		Robert Newman
1814					John Bolland
1818		Matthew Russell	Whig		George Tennyson	Whig
February 1819		Sir William Curtis	Tory
February 1819					Marquess of Titchfield	Whig
1820		Edward Henry Edwardes
1822					Lord Francis Leveson-Gower	Tory
1826		William Russell	Whig		Charles Tennyson	Whig
1827		Hon. William Lamb	Whig
1828		William Ewart	Whig[10]
1830		Robert William Mills	Whig[11]
February 1831		Sir William Horne	Whig[12]
April 1831		Hon. John Ponsonby	Whig[13]
July 1831		Thomas Hyde Villiers	Whig[14]		The Viscount Palmerston	Whig
1832	Constituency abolished

Notes

1. "History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 23 October 2011.
2. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1386-1421/member/eylove-roger-ii
3. Cavill. The English Parliaments of Henry VII 1485-1504.
4. "History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 23 October 2011.
5. "History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 23 October 2011.
6. Created a baronet, January 1732
7. Succeeded to his baronetcy, December 1744
8. Knighted 1768
9. Copley was also elected for Tregony, which he chose to represent, and never sat for Bletchingley
10. Escott, Margaret. "EWART, William (1798-1869), of Mossley Hill, Liverpool, Lancs. and 16 Eaton Place, Mdx". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
11. Fisher, David R. "MILLS, Robert William (1777-1851), of Willington, co. Dur". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
12. Fisher, David R. "HORNE, Sir William (1773-1860), of 19 Old Square, Lincoln's Inn; 49 Upper Harley Street, Mdx. and Epping House, Little Berkhampstead, Herts". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
13. Fisher, David R.; Salmon, Philip. "PONSONBY, John George Brabazon (1809-1880)". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
14. Fisher, David R. "VILLIERS, Thomas Hyde (1801-1832), of 8 Suffolk Street, Haymarket and 6 Cleveland Court, Westminster, Mdx". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 25 May 2020.

Election results

Elections in the 1830s

By-election, 18 July 1831: Bletchingley[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Thomas Hyde Villiers	Unopposed
	Whig	Henry John Temple	Unopposed
Registered electors			c. 70
	Whig hold
	Whig hold

• Caused by Ponsonby's resignation and Tennyson's decision to sit for Stamford, where he had also been elected.

General election, 29 April 1831: Bletchingley[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	John Ponsonby	Unopposed
	Whig	Charles Tennyson	Unopposed
Registered electors			c. 70
	Whig hold
	Whig hold

By-election, 18 February 1831: Bletchingley[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	William Horne	Unopposed
Registered electors			c. 70
	Whig hold

• Caused by Mills' resignation

By-election, 10 January 1831: Bletchingley[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Charles Tennyson	Unopposed
Registered electors			c. 70
	Whig hold

• Caused by Tennyson's appointment as Clerk of the Ordnance

General election, 30 July 1830: Bletchingley[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Robert William Mills	Unopposed
	Whig	Charles Tennyson	Unopposed
	Whig hold
	Whig hold

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

References

• Robert Beatson, A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807)
• D Brunton & D H Pennington, Members of the Long Parliament (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954)
• Cobbett's Parliamentary history of England, from the Norman Conquest in 1066 to the year 1803 (London: Thomas Hansard, 1808)
• David W Hayton, Stuart Handley and Eveline Cruickshanks, The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1690-1715 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002)
• Maija Jansson (ed.), Proceedings in Parliament, 1614 (House of Commons) (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1988)
• Lewis Namier & John Brooke, The History of Parliament: The House of Commons 1754-1790 (London: HMSO, 1964)
• J. E. Neale, The Elizabethan House of Commons (London: Jonathan Cape, 1949)
• T. H. B. Oldfield, The Representative History of Great Britain and Ireland (London: Baldwin, Cradock & Joy, 1816)
• J Holladay Philbin, Parliamentary Representation 1832 - England and Wales (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965)
• Henry Stooks Smith, The Parliaments of England from 1715 to 1847 (2nd edition, edited by FWS Craig - Chichester: Parliamentary Reference Publications, 1973)
• Robert Walcott, English Politics in the Early Eighteenth Century (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1956)
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 3)

1. Jenkins, Terry; Spencer, Howard. "Bletchingley". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 25 May 2020.